


we built our own house

by SoVeryAverageMe



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Carlos Molina-centric, Families of Choice, Family Feels, Gen, Good Sibling Carlos Molina, Mentioned Alex Mercer/Willie, Mentioned Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, N Things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:21:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoVeryAverageMe/pseuds/SoVeryAverageMe
Summary: Five times that Carlos supports his family, and one time that they all support him.(Or, a series of vignettes in which Carlos is, in the words of Ray Molina, a "good brother").
Relationships: Carlos Molina & Alex Mercer, Carlos Molina & Flynn, Carlos Molina & Julie Molina, Carlos Molina & Luke Patterson, Carlos Molina & Reggie, Flynn & Alex Mercer & Carlos Molina & Julie Molina & Ray Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters
Comments: 8
Kudos: 43
Collections: Yuletide Madness 2020





	we built our own house

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CaptainSif](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainSif/gifts).



> While rewatching Julie and the Phantoms, I buried Ray's line about Carlos being a good brother deep into my brain and started whirring on fic ideas. This is the result!
> 
> The title is from the song, _Our Own House_ by the MisterWives!
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

_1: Julie_

Sometimes Carlos catches Julie staring at the studio. They all feel the missing hole where their mom should be, but music was always _their_ thing. The same way that she used to pose for photographs for his dad or took him out for ice cream after every single little league game. All three of them are reckoning with the pieces of their mother that they no longer have.

He finds Julie sitting at the dining room table with a letter in her hands. “You okay?”

“I’m getting kicked out of the music program if I don’t figure out how to perform again.”

Placing his bag on the floor, he pushes a chair closer to her before sitting down. “I was really hoping that you’d say something more light-hearted than that.”

“Me too.” She replies, endlessly folding and unfolding the paper.

“So,” he rests his head in his arms, looking up at her. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.” Shaking her head, she leans back on the chair, careful not to tip it backwards. “I haven’t been able to perform since Mom died.”

“I don’t think you should give up.” Carlos pushes himself upright. “Mom loved music. And, so did you. Maybe it won’t ever be the same, but I think the music is still inside of you, even if you can’t find it right now.”

“Fine,” she replied, getting up and pushing her chair in. “I’ll keep trying, but don’t tell Dad yet, okay?”

“Deal.” They shake on it, using a complex secret handshake that they made up when they were kids. Julie grabs a snack from the cupboard before going to her room to start on homework.

Carlos watches her go, caught up in his thoughts worrying about Julie. He can only hope that she figures out how to get music back. The house is so quiet now. He misses being able to close his eyes and just listen to the music bring everything to life around him.

* * *

_2: Flynn_

“Oof.” Carlos isn’t paying attention when he bumps into Flynn in the driveway. He’s barely able to catch himself from falling on the pavement.

“Sorry, Carlos.” Flynn places her hands on his shoulders, subtly checking if he’s injured.

“It’s fine!” he waves his phone in the air. “I was trying to catch a Pikachu, so I wasn’t paying attention either.”

“Nah,” Flynn crosses her arms. “I shouldn’t have just been standing in your driveway.”

Carlos moves toward the house, assuming that Flynn will follow, but she doesn’t move. “Are you coming?”

“Uh, no…” she pulls her bag up higher on her shoulder. “I think I’m actually going to go home.”

“You know I heard Julie playing the piano earlier this week,” Carlos interrupts before she can leave. “She’s been so quiet since Mom died. It was nice to hear her sing again.”

“She played in front of the entire school during the pep rally.” Flynn’s voice wavers in disbelief. “I haven’t seen her like that in a really long time. She was amazing.”

“Julie’s always been amazing.”

“Did you know she started a hologram band and didn’t tell me?” she chokes back a scoff. “My best friend didn’t tell me she started a band with a bunch of random hologram boys.”

“Is that what this is about?” Carlos asks, pursing his lips. “I think that we should be thankful that someone or something inspired Julie to play music again. Even if it wasn’t us; maybe especially since it wasn’t us.

“I just don’t know why she wouldn’t tell me.” Flynn sighs.

“You should talk to her.” Carlos says. “You two have been friends forever. Seems like a waste to let that relationship end just because someone else managed to help Julie when we couldn’t.”

“You know? I think you’re right. She’s my best friend, no matter what.” Flynn smiles down at him. “How did you get so smart?”

“The internet.” Carlos waves his hands in front of him, “The self-help forums are filled with valuable information. Uh, don’t tell my dad about that.”

“Sure thing, little man.”

* * *

_3: Alex_

After the show at the Orpheum, he confronts Julie about her ghost band. At first, she tries to hide it from him, but is interrupted by Reggie whining, “He deserves to know!”

Carlos doesn’t really understand the whole story, but somehow his sister saved her band through some life-changing hug. One of the unintended side effects turns out to be that everyone can hear them now, even if they can still only be seen while playing with Julie. His dad soon finds out and once his surprise fades, he realizes that the boys don’t have anywhere else to stay. After that, the studio is officially their new home (or, Carlos muses, their home _again_ ).

In the end, it turns out that it’s actually pretty easy to adjust to living with three invisible ghosts.

He comes home from school one day to find a floating remote browsing through Netflix in the living room.

“I’m home!” he announces, but no one replies. “Hello?”

The remote is placed on the table and Carlos can hear the light tapping of a beat – fingers on jeans nervously keeping time with music only in the owner’s head.

“Alex? Is that you?” Carlos sits on the other side of the couch, placing his bag on the floor. “Are you okay?”

“There’s a whole category for people like me.” His voice is barely a whisper; caught somewhere in between melancholy and awe.

Carlos glances at the television screen, the cursor is left on the LGBTQ section.

“Yeah, there is.” He imagines this isn’t how Alex planned to come out. “It’s not always the best representation, but there are certainly more inclusive and diverse shows than we had in the 90s. Some of them are super popular, too.”

The two fall into silence, and Carlos gently picks up the remote to start playing _Schitt’s Creek_ in the background. Halfway through the pilot episode, he turns toward Alex.

“So, is there someone you like?”

The cushions rumpling is the only sign that Alex was still there. “Uh, there’s this ghost. Willie. I bumped into him when we first reappeared. He taught me a whole lot about… well, everything in our second life, I guess.”

“He sounds cool.” Carlos grabs a pillow to squeeze against his chest. “I tried skating once, but I gave up on it after falling flat on my face for the tenth time. I think my board is still stuffed in a box somewhere.”

“I’m sure Willie could teach you a few things.” Carlos is almost sure that Alex would be blushing now if he could see him. “He’s a good teacher.”

“Well,” Carlos turns back to the television. “I hope I get to meet him someday.”

Almost too quiet for him to hear, Alex replies. “I hope you do too.”

* * *

_4: Reggie_

He’s digging through their bin of video games when hears a knock on the door frame of the living room. Without bothering to turn around, he calls out, “What’s up, Reggie?”

A few weeks ago, they instated a rule that the boys had to announce themselves when entering a room to reduce the number of jump scares. They might be fun in horror movies, but on a regular basis and with real ghosts, jump scares turn into a lot of dropped plates.

“I still don’t get how you always know which one of us is here. You Molina’s don’t all have freaky ghost powers, do you?”

He could tell him that it’s because Luke always announces himself, Alex hits the doorframe like it’s his drum set, and Reggie’s knocks are a more simple, stable beat. Instead he replies, “I’ll never reveal my secrets.”

“I’ll find out someday,” Carlos hears the pillows moving behind him. “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to find something to play.” He turns toward the sofa, his eyes widening, “I just realized you missed like 25 years of video games!”

The sofa cushions shift where Reggie must be sitting. “My mom bought be SNES a couple years ago, and I was going to ask for a PlayStation for Christmas.” He pauses, and Carlos wishes he could see Reggie’s facial expressions. “I think my parents liked to buy me things to try to make me forgot about how much they fought. Not quite a bribe, but not quite an apology, either.”

“That sucks, dude.” Carlos digs out the second controller from behind the television, before making his way to the couch.

“It’s in the past now,” Reggie says, but he doesn’t sound as bright as he usually does. “Literally.”

“Well, it was their loss.” Carlos boots up the game and slides the controller towards Reggie. “You have a new family now.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course,” Carlos smiles in what he hopes is the right direction, “And now I’m going to show you the wonders of Mario Party.”

* * *

_5: Luke_

He’s been trying to ignore it for the last forty-five minutes, but Carlos can’t get any homework done with the pathetic crooning of Luke and his guitar coming from downstairs. Wrapping a blanket around his shoulders, he ventures down the hall. Most of the lights are turned off and the house creaks with a powerful gust of wind.

“Luke?” He creeps down the staircase and into the living room, where it looks like an acoustic guitar is playing itself. “Where is everyone?”

The strumming stops when Luke answers. “Reggie and your dad went out to scope out a new venue for photography, Alex is with Willie, and Julie’s gone over to Flynn’s house.”

Carlos isn’t sure if his dad finally trusts him to be home alone, or if he’s decided that the seventeen-year-old ghost who died eating a hot dog is responsible enough to be left in charge.

“And you’ve decided to spend your time singing romantic love ballads in the dark at the top of your lungs?”

“I’m trying to write a song for Julie, and I have writer’s block.” He leans the guitar against the couch and picks up the notebook on the table.

“For Julie, or _about_ Julie.” Carlos mimics a gagging motion. “Because I’m not sure if I want to hear all about your crush on my older sister.”

“Neither,” the notebook shakes, and he imagines that Luke must be shaking his head. “Both. I don’t know.”

“Look.” He sighs. “I’m only going to say this once, because, again, I don’t need to think about Julie’s love life: I think she’ll like anything that you write, because _you_ wrote it. Just be honest with her and probably think about how you’re going to deal with the whole being a ghost-thing.”

“You think so?” Julie’s often speaks of Luke’s puppy dog face and there must be one aimed in Carlos’ direction.

“Yes, Luke,” He shakes his head. “Now can you please stop singing sad love songs so I can get some homework done. I’ll even give you one free pass on asking me advice about Julie. Deal?”

“Deal. I’d even shake on it if I was corporeal.”

* * *

_+1: Carlos_

He rushes down the stairs towards the kitchen, almost tripping over an acoustic guitar. “Has anyone seen my lucky glove?”

“I think you forgot it in the studio,” Reggie says, followed by a quiet _poof_. A few seconds later his glove appears floating in the kitchen.

“Thanks,” Carlos replies, grabbing it and shoving the glove into is duffle bag. “If we win today, we’re headed to State, so we need all the luck we can get.”

Ray ruffles his hair before smoothing it down again and plopping his baseball cap on his head. “I’m driving Julie to the Battle of the Bands audition, but I should be at your game by the third inning.”

“Great! I told them to save you a seat. You won’t be able to miss the cheering section.” Carlos throws an extra protein bar into his duffle bag, before zipping it up. “What about you guys?” He peers out the window to make sure Danny’s mom isn’t waiting in the driveway. “Are you ready for the audition? This is a pretty big competition, isn’t it?”

Luke’s voice drifts over from in front of the fridge. “Big? This competition scouts the best new talent in California. More than half of the top ten walk away with record deals. This competition is legendary.”

“That didn’t really answer my question.”

“We’re terrified,” Alex honestly answers, over the mock indignation of the other band members.

A car is pulling up in front of their house. “I’ve got to go, but good luck. I know you’re going to kill it,” Carlos says on his way out. “You’ll have to tell me all about it after the game!”

* * *

At the top of the third inning he hears someone calling his name from the stands. He looks over trying to spot his dad in the crowd. What he finds makes him almost drop his glove. It’s not just his dad, but also Julie, and considering that the other end of the sign she’s holding is floating in mid-air, he guesses that the rest of the phantoms are cheering him on as well.

His team wins the game and as soon as he’s out of the locker room he’s surrounded by his family.

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at the audition!” he yells over the din of the crowd, slowly moving them away from the horde of parents trying to reunite with their children.

“We were on our way there,” his dad says with a proud look on his face, “when they unanimously told be to turn around and drive to the game.”

“But what about the audition?” Carlos asks, trying to pull his bag higher on his shoulder until his dad takes it from him.

Julie squeezes his shoulder. “There will be other competitions.”

“Yeah, little man,” Reggie says somewhere on his left. “This was way more important.”

“We wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Luke chimes in.

Flynn finishes with, “I’m their manager, and I approve of this decision.”

The seven of them are walking through the parking lot when Carlos gets an idea.

“Hey, Dad?”

He turns toward him and swings arm around his shoulders. “Yes, mijo?”

Carlos smiles, thinking that all the pieces are finally fitting back into place. “Do you think we can all stop for ice cream on the way home?”

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: this is my first fic written in present tense in literal years (it's probably also the fic that has the most name brands mentioned. That was unintentional).
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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